The Girl With The Hat
by CuriousAndStupid
Summary: Indiana Jones / Pitch Perfect cross over. She's a university professor. Not a detective. So why does Jesse come to her when Benji goes missing? Why does she hire a gorgeous redhead to help them with their journey to all edges of the globe? Why is she even going on this exceedingly long expedition? Oh god, why did she ever try to be a good person? - Bechloe, Jeca friendship
1. Chapter 1

The sunlight shone harsh and strong over the desert, and the group of men that had been tirelessly trekking over its domain were relieved to finally enter the shade of the mountain of rocks which interrupted the flat sandy ground.

At the front, a skinny man with dark brown eyes perused the pile, seemingly unbothered by the temperature of the evening, despite the fact he was clad in all black clothes, along with mask.

"Sir, what are we doing here, if you don't mind me asking." One of his goons stepped forward, seemingly a little uneasy.

"Hush, Grain, and watch." The other ordered, not even bothering to face him as he approached the lump of rocks. From a hidden pocket he pulled a beat-up old book, which he folded open to a page. He read quietly, his lips moving as he memorised the words, before looking up at the boulders before him. Slowly, as if unsure of himself, he placed a gloved hand on the surface of the rock, and moved his hand firmly. Surprisingly, the great stone shifted in it position, and the sand by the man's feet began to fall away as the floor beneath it moved, revealing a small, square gap, into which a ladder dipped into.

At this, the small man's eyes lit up.

"Bingo." He muttered as he gazed into the holes murky depths.

Between the dusty shelves of the great library, a young female rushed, her hands brushing against a few stacked books as she searched tirelessly. Quickly, she ceased her swift movement down the shelf and stopped at a blue hardback, pulling out the heavy literature. She placed it into her bag triumphantly before she was on her way again, breezing past other young adults and through the main lobby as she headed for the door behind the desk. Her footsteps were quick, and she kept her head ducked down, and, for a moment, she felt like she was going to make it.

"Be-caw!" A call sounded from behind her, and she froze in her spot, letting out a long sigh as her shoulders slumped. The young woman spun to face the speaker, and was met with none other than the goofy grin of Professor Jesse Swanson.

"Professor Swanson." She greeted with a tight lipped smile as he approached. He shook his head as he stopped in front of her.

"I thought I told you to call me Jesse?"

"I thought I told you to leave me alone." Beca shot back as she turned and started again, for her office, hoping he would take the hint. Sadly, he did not.

"Actually I have a serious matter to talk about." Jesse's features suddenly became solemn, and Beca turned round in surprise.

"What about?" She enquired, a little suspicious now. Beca trusted Jesse, she had met him and their friend, Benji, three years ago when they became neighbours in college. It was inevitable, really, that they would be good friends, despite the brunettes attempts to push the men away. They persisted, however, and a strong friendship had bloomed. One that Beca had not been willing to form, but she didn't really have a choice about it now. So, if Jesse's joking suddenly stopped, then it was definitely very important.

The young man's eyes flickered about self-consciously, and he ran a hand through chocolate hair.

"This isn't the best place to talk. May we…?" He gestured a hand to her office door, and, in response, she nodded. The two went inside, and, once Beca had place her bag down and her book on a table in the corner, she leant against the desk with her arms crossed, staring at Jesse's anxiousness. He was sitting in the chair that was opposite from her desk, nervously twiddling with his thumbs, which, if you know Jesse, he doesn't normally do. As usual, he was dressed in a navy blue suit, his blazer casually unbuttoned and Beca had no doubt as to why he was a very well liked teacher with the student body. He was hot, there was no denying, with his boyish charm and good looks, but, Beca would never admit that out loud. Still, Jesse just wasn't her type. She didn't know what that was, exactly, but, apparently, it wasn't Jesse.

"Three days ago… Um… Three days ago Benji was supposed to come back from his holiday. But, he didn't." Jesse informed her, and Becas eyebrows shot skywards.

"Shit."

"Yeah I know. Naturally, I was worried, so I checked his apartment." Jesse gulped as he continued, "the whole… The whole place was completely ransacked. There wasn't a table unturned. I didn't know what to do, so I came to you."

" _Shit_..."

"You're the only person I trust around here. You can never be too careful these days." He added, eyeing the door.

"Have you told anyone else about this? Or do you think anyone's realised he's missing, too?" Beca asked, adjusting her blouse. She couldn't help it; like Jesse, she fiddles with stuff when she's worried or nervous. Which, again, doesn't normally happen. Beca could already tell today was definitely going to be peculiar.

"Not that I know of. I mean, he usually calls his mother every week but she died about a month ago." Jesse shrugged sadly, his brown eyes meeting steely blue; and, instantly, a connection had been made. They both knew what the other was thinking, the idea floating around all edges of the room. Benji wouldn't just take his inheritance from his deceased mother and go. That's just not Benji thing to do. With a shake of her head, Beca chased away the thought, deeming it was close to impossible. Instead, she turned her mind to darker thoughts. The possibility that Benji knew something he shouldn't have, have something others wanted, or done something that would undoubtedly land him in trouble.

"Do you think something might have happened to him, Becs?" He asked, uncharacteristically quiet as his eyes trained the patterns of wooden floor. Beca shrugged with one shoulder, currently engaging in the same activity as he was. However, her voice was sterner, more angry than sad. Because, if it were choice of the two, Beca would pick angry every time.

"I don't know, but I'll be damned if I just stand here and let it." She promised through grating teeth, sharp features looking menacing in the low lamp light of the room. Ignoring her book and the work that was sprawled out over her desk, she marched to the hat stand and pulled her black jacket on over her blue plaid shirt. The petit brunette was definitely one of more casual clothes than most of the other professors. But she was comfortable with her black jeans, and had been since her teen years, so she was going to stay that way.

Jesse, suddenly curious, jumped from his seat.

"Where are you going?" He enquired.

"Benji's apartment. Best place to start." She explained simply. She had around 2 hours until her next History class, it should be enough time to find immediate evidence that gave away what exactly had happened to Benji Applebaum.

Beca was out of the door within a few seconds, a worried Jesse following after her, increasingly surprised at how fast her short legs could take her.

* * *

When Jesse said that Benji's apartment had been ransacked, he had not been exaggerating. In fact, the description had been, if anything, an under statement. Not a table was left standing as she pushed open the door and observed the surroundings that had once been full of the love that was Benji's affection. Ever since his nerdy magic faze during his own college years, Benji Applebaum didn't have a whole lot that was truly his, not just something his mother had bought for him. But this apartment truly showed how stylish and attentive the young man could be when involving something he could have for himself. Or... it used to. Now, as the physical light drained from the smashed light bulb over head, the lampshade that had once calmed its brightness no where in sight, so did the emotional connection Benji had from the room. It was like watching the slowly fade from a friends eyes as you stab them in the gut. Something Beca has, unfortunately, had first had experience with.

She gingerly stepped over the upturned coffee table as she reminisced quietly about many evenings she and her two friends had spent sitting around it, lazily draining their drinks as they swapped banter. Papers and files from the desk were sprawled around the room messily, most of the pages crumpled due to an aggressive grip, and the desk itself had been thrown into a wall, making a dent in the russet wallpaper, and leaving the splintered body lying half-hazardly on the floor. Picture frames were smashed, the carpet was torn up and every desk had been ripped from it's place and emptied out, the contents squashed under what seemed to be large feet. As Beca surveyed the hectic mess, the young man that accompanied her forced himself not to look at the remains of his friends apartment for the second time that day. Unfortunately, this led to Jesse's eyes capturing a picture of he and his three friends graduating college together, all clad in silky blue gowns and matching caps, bright smiles on each of their faces; including Beca's. Benji's mom had taken the picture.

"You... Weren't kidding." Beca broke the long silence, running her hand through chocolate locks nervously.

"I wouldn't joke about something like this." He shook his head in dismay, risking a glance up at his female friend. A moment passed, and Beca slowly spun in her space, eyes landing on the way they had come in. She noted the circular dip the doorknob had made against the wall, something that had never been there before. Benji was definitely not a type to throw open doors that aggressively.

"Someone was looking for something. Something they needed." She told Jesse.

"Yeah?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. But, whatever it was, they never found it." With that she began the search herself, moving around the room slowly and precise. A confidence hung about Beca Mitchell in a way that only she could pull off. Even though she found out about the predicament only twenty minutes ago, Jesse felt his friend knew everything that was happening; where Benji was and why. He too copied her actions and crouched to sort through the papers on the floor.

"But, what would Benji have that someone else would want? And this much? He's a college professor, not a government agent." He reminded her, smoothing out the pages between his fingertips. She bit her lip at the question, slowly turning the desk onto its four legs again, silently surprised at how it was still standing.

"I don't know... I was hoping you could tell me that. You are his best friend, after all."

"We're all best friends, Beca."

"Yeah, but, you two always had a connection more than I did."

Jesse simply nodded his head, "well, I don't think he ever said anything that suspicious. If Benji had something he shouldn't have, he would have said something."

"Mull over it, that's all I'm saying. I really need you to think right now, Jess." She sighed, brazing the room again. She froze suddenly, eyeing the place where the table had collided with the wall. The paper was crumpled, torn at one edge, and the wood that padded the wall underneath could be seen. Now that she thinks about it, thats quite unusual. No one in a Georgia apartment block had wooden walls, they were all made of plaster; wood was very impractical and a fire hazard. She edged closer, brow furrowed, and pulled the paper gently down, exposing more of the wall. A hole that was just large enough to fit a finger inside could be seen from where it was place slightly edged to the side of a groove in the wood. Beca held back a gasp as she recognised the peculiar alignment to be the edge of a cupboard. A cupboard in the wall. That the infiltrators to Benji's apartment had missed. This must be it.

"Beca what are you..." She hard Jesse's voice behind her trail off, guessing he must have seen the discovery as well. Hand at the ready, Beca moved forward and, hooking her finger into the gap, pulled gently. At first nothing happened, so she tugged a little firmer, and the cupcoard popped open.

It was nothing really, just a shelf and a safe built into the wall below it. Nothing was on the shelf apart from Benji's jar of change, and a lollipop. Beca groaned in frustration, resisting the urge to punch the wall beside her.

"Nothing! Ugh!" She spat after a string of curse words escaped her lips. Jesse stopped her aburuptedly on her path towards the door and walked over to the cupboard.

"Hang on, what's in the safe?" He questioned.

"I don't know, probably more of his sweet collection and his savings for paris?" Beca hissed sarcastically. The brunette boy shook his head at his childhood pal.

"You really don't know Benji do you? That sweet? This money? It's a distraction. And this is exactly why. Idiot's like you will think that it's all that will be in there, and a waist of your time. Therefore, the ultimate defence mechanism. Benji's not just a a pretty face, you know." He chuckled jokingly. Beca's eyebrow arched as she crossed her arms.

"Idiot's like me?" She asked. Suddenly, Jesse's face became serious.

"Beca, focus; we have a safe to crack."

* * *

So, yeah, this is my first fan fiction. I apologise for the slow pace, and any mistakes I didn't take care of. Also I'm English so anything like "mum" instead of "mom", is going to appear. Sorry. It's based of that comedy sketch Anna Kendrick did for red nose day. I couldn't help myself, I'm sorry.

Next chapter: a wild Chloe appears! Along with a Junk.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pitch Perfect or Indiana Jones.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Fingers dances effortlessly over the keyboard, brow furrowing in concentration and confusion. What Beca and Jesse had found in Benji's secret safe had lifted more than one eyebrow in the room. In fact, she's pretty sure Jesse's jaw fell open as they - typically - put Benji's mother's birth date into the lock and it had easily popped the seal. To say she was surprised would be an understatement, and occasionally she glanced over to Jesse, who was still holding the small leather journal in his hands, dumbfounded. The sight would have been amusing were it not for the pressing matter that their friend knew things that were exceedingly dangerous to know.

They had studied it for a good hour, watching the traces of Benji's handwriting as the variable coloured lines swerved to make letters, numbers, and drawings. Everything was done by hand, not a single thing printed out and stuck in. Words that were so precise they looked like pages from wikipedia were etched onto the aged paper, confusing instructions and peculiar places were jotted down with easy precision. Everything was labeled with a date, and Beca was so surprised that Benj could fit in so much information into one tiny diary from 2009. The subject of everything in the book, however, really baffled her.

Numerous times, the 'Silver medallion' was mentioned by Benji's slanted writing, and from what he had recorded it seemed that the medallion had been split into several parts for unknown reasons. Well, there was a sentence nearer the beginning of the book that was cut off halfway through as it was supposed to lead onto the other page. "The medallion pieces once made a whole, but around 96 B.C. a... " and then the second page had been ripped out, taking any and all information with it that was not written again in the book.

"This is too weird." Jesse finally commented as he approached Beca at her desk. They had returned to her office, after locking Benji's apartment and leaving a note taped to the door explaining that Benji would be 'busy' for the next few weeks. That would hopefully keep any curious friends or neighbours satisfied. They didn't need anyone else becoming suspicious and calling the police or something.

The thought of contacting a higher power crossed their minds, and they had talked about it briefly. And, though it was incredibly stupid not to tell anyone, they both agreed that if anyone was going to find Benji as quick as possibly it would be them, after all, they knew him better than anyone. They had an unspoken moral obligation to help Benji when no one else could. Both of them did choose, however, that if they hadn't found Benji after a month, then they would call the police. And that was that.

"You can say that again." Beca agreed with a nod.

"This is too weird." Jesse shrugged again and Beca stopped herself from punching him in the arm, instead settling with a glare as she tried to continue with her work. Only to sit back in her chair with a sigh after only a moment of clicking.

"There's nothing about this Silver Medallion thing." She told him, gesturing vaguely to her laptop. He brought a finger to his chin and scratched it thoughtfully.

"So it's a dead end?"

"No, not a dead end. Not yet. There's still so much more we could do with this information."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Beca didn't answer, instead taking the book from his hands and "um"ing as she searched the pages. Suddenly her face fell blank as she stopped on one, and left it open on the desk. Glancing from it to her hands sheepishly. She didn't dare risk a dance at Jesse however, curious, he leaned over the desk and gasped as he saw the words "the first peace is in Egypt" scribbled neatly and taking up a whole line right at the top. He jumped and shook his head.

"No! No way, we are not going to Egypt!" He insisted, shaking his head as he paced the office. Beca rolled her eyes as she walked around her table and leaned against the front, watching Jesse.

"And why not?"

"Because… Because we can't, okay? I just… It seems a little drastic." He finished lamely. She nodded understandingly though and let an uncharacteristically gentle look as she went to stand in front of the now still Jesse.

"Look, Jess, I know this is really big. But, remember, our best friend is missing. And you know as well as I do that, if we were missing, Benji would not hesitate to hop on a plane to Egypt if it meant he would find us."

A moment of silence passed as the two best friends looked at each other. Beca with a knowing look, Jesse with a slowly breaking exterior of disagreement. She wouldn't normally press him to do something like this, such as an impromptu plane ride, but she knew he would instantly regret it the moment it was too late. She knew that Jesse would get on a plane after her if she went without him. She'd just rather save him from the prolonging inner turmoil that he would undoubtedly go through for the next 3 days before he inevitably cracked and agreed.

He nodded slowly, giving a small smile.

"Ok. Yeah, ok, let's do it. We just need to talk to the Dean about our random journey to… Where abouts in Egypt are we going, by the way?" He asked, suddenly realising that Egypt was a whole country and they may need a little more detail.

"I think it said somewhere called Taba."

"Sounds exotic."

"I'm sure it is."

* * *

Chloe Beale was just entering her cafe when a voice called out to her.

"Chloe! Hi! I have your bagel!" The tall brunette exclaimed with a grin as she approached the older girl with a grin and a paper bag. Anyone who met Emily would think she had just bought two dozen kittens or won the lottery or something that morning but, after years of working with the young female, Chloe knew that the happy puppy aura that the other girl just seemed to ooze was merely a normality.

"Thanks, Em, I forgot to have dinner last night." She chuckled a she took the bag gratefully. Emily raised an eyebrow at her.

"Again?"

"What? Don't look at me like that, okay? I just… Got busy." Chloe shrugged, slipping behind the counter towards the back door. Emily followed as they entered the break room.

"What time did you go to sleep last night?" She questioned. Chloe kept walking.

"Oh, not too late."

"Chloe."

"Like 11?"

"Chloe."

"Okay, fine, I didn't sleep! So what?" Chloe spat as she turned on a startled Emily. The young girl recovered quickly, though.

"So a lot, Chloe, that's the third night in a row." She reminded her. The tired woman ran a hand through her long ginger curls and looked to the floor.

"Look, Em, don't worry. It's just… You know what I do is very important to me."

"It's important to me too, Chlo. But I manage to sleep!" Emily pointed out.

"Em, you don't understand," She paused, looked up, and gave the employee a small smile, "I finally found it."

The young brunette froze. It hadn't been stated specifically but she knew well enough, after all these years, what Chloe was referring to.

"What?" She still heard herself squeaking.

"Last night. Aubrey called and… We figured it out."

"Where?"

A mega-watt grin was on Chloe's face now, looking brightly at her assistant with a proud sense that she had done well. Very well.

"Taba."

"I… I don't know where that is."

"Oh my god, Em."

* * *

Five minutes later Beca had moved back to the desk to begin booking plane tickets for tomorrow, and Jesse was skimming through the book again from his spot on the couch when he froze on one page.

"Bec?" He called, and the brunette huffed in annoyance but complied.

"Yeah?" She asked, voice tense.

"There's a phone number in here."

"There is?" She was standing now and walking over to her friend. He raised the open book towards her to show her the numbers.

"Yeah… Should we call it?"

"I… I don't know…" She gaped, rather confused by the term of events. Today had already been an incredibly peculiar one, and now it was just getting worse. Her best friend missing, finding a peculiar book, booking a random flight, and now a mysterious number found in said book? What's next, a group of acapella singers bursting through her door? She shook her head.

"Well, why not? Could be useful." Jesse shrugged.

"What are you expecting? Some sort of Benji-missing-helpline?" She coffed as she studied the numbers.

"I don't know, but I just think we should." He ignored her comment. She shrugged and repeated his words with a sigh.

"Why not?" With that she pulled her phone out from her pocket and dialed the number, swallowing as she pressed call and held it out on loudspeaker so that Jesse could hear.

It rang three times and Beca was afraid and hoping that they wouldn't pick up when a chipper voice answered the phone after the click.

"Hello? Chloe's Coffee hut, how can I help you today?"

A little confused but undeterred from her goal, Beca shot Jesse a s look and spoke again,

"Hey, who am I speaking to right now?"

"This is Emily."

"Do you know anything about a Silver Medallion?" The silence that followed gave Beca all the information that she needed. Yes, this girl most certainly did.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Pretty sure you heard me there, miss." Beca responded coolly.

"Well, I... Um... Uh... Chloe?" Beca heard Emily call out, like a small child calling for her mother. As footsteps approached, Emily mumbled nervously into a phone that the brunette guessed was supposed be a polite ask to wait for a moment, but, instead something that came out more as a bumbling mess of "Buh melable meh hay?"

A hushed conversation could heard before a crisp clean voice spoke down the line. However, angry it was, Beca couldn't help but be mesmerised by the melodic tone as it all but shouted at her through the phone.

"Who is this?"

"Uh..." She shook her he'd to compose herself and answered cautiously, "This is Beca Mitchell. I'm a university professor in Georgia."

Okay, why the hell did she say that last bit? It would have been perfectly acceptable with just "Beca" but, no, she had to go ahead and start telling this random chick her life story just because Beca was getting horny over her fucking voice. Well, not horny, but still.

"Yeah? How do you know about the Silver Medallion?" She demanded. Beta grimaced because of course she asked her a question where Beca's overly-chatty mouth could slip in more information about herself. You know, just in case they get married or something.

"I'm here with my friend, Jesse. Our other friend, Benji, went missing a few days ago and his apartment was ransacked by someone, we don't know who. Anyway, we started looking and we found this book. Beni had been researching the medallion or something. You're number was in here, I'm guessing it's because you know something about the medallion?" She quickly informed, feeling that it was strange to hear all of todays events back, especially when she herself was explaining the story.

"I... This is an unsafe line. Don't call here again." 'Chloe' instructed before the line was cut of with a stretched 'beep'. As Beca hang up the call, silence filled the air.

"Well that was... Something..." Jesse finally said, ruling the back of his neck.

"Do you think this'll lead us anywhere?" Beca said, eyebrow cocking.

"It could do. And hopefully to Benji. Although I don't think the coffee house crew here have anything to do with Benji's disappearance." He shook his head. He was completely unknowing to the fact that 'the coffee house crew' was going to be used a lot more when referring to Chloe and Emily.

"They have information, though. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of them." Beca smirked. And she was completed right.

* * *

Heeeeeeeeey

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Didn't think I was gonna post this tonight but, here we are. New chapter will be up as soon as possible.

(Probably tomorrow)

(Very likely tomorrow)

(It's gonna be tomorrow)

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, don't own the Pitch Perfect franchise.


	3. Chapter 3

**Omg, I am soooooo sorry. I lied so badly. Anyway, thanks for being patient, and here's the next chapter. I will work on getting the next one out sooner.**

* * *

Beca shifted uncomfortably in her spot, a movement that looked exceedingly peculiar for a girl dressed in black skinny jeans, grey converse, and an impressive row of ear spikes. But, despite the layers of black eyeliner, she failed to hide the nervousness she felt when standing alone in her hotel room in a strange country she'd never been to before. Jesse had left about half an hour ago, apparently intent on finding a good place to eat that wasn't the gloomy-looking restaurant their 2 star hotel had set up on the first floor. Well, that's just what happened when you booked late in holiday season.

Their rental car was not due for pickup until tomorrow, so that they would have to wait for. However, the young brown-haired professor was itching to try and do something about the disappearance of her friend, but he knew that she had done everything in her power for today. She could do nothing more, but still there was something tickling inside her stomach. And, no, it wasn't her hunger. Usually, that would be her priority, but, right now, she felt sick.

Currently, she was perched on the end of her bed, her bag thrown onto the end of the bed and unzipped, the unfolded contents spilling out onto the bedspread as a sign of her former search for a new set of clothes. She fiddling with her laptop, mixing, an activity that used to be her passion; but now that she had pushed all of her music career aside to focus on her academics, it was merely more of a hobbie. She was fairly thankful for the fact the hotel had no internet, so that there was no distraction to keep her from just doing what she loved to do. Beca would have been content, perfectly comfortable, in fact, just sitting there for hours, most likely on the road to forgetting Jesse's absence, but she couldn't. A nagging in the bag of her head was stopping her from her… Hobbie. She hated calling it that, due to the fact that she proving her father's former choice of words correct. And she despised that her dad was right.

The brunette's head was filling with thoughts that she'd rather not ponder through that night, and it was affecting the quality of her mix. In a desperate attempt to distract her train of thought from its subject of attention, she clicked the buttons on her keyboard harder and faster, speaking aloud as she did so. Urging the track to do as she commanded.

"Come on. Just match the beat. Why won't you just fucking do as I say? Jesus Fucking Christ what the ass shitting bull cock is- Ugh!" She exclaimed in frustration, slamming down the lid of the device as she saw the screen freeze and a colourful pinwheel replace her mouse. She groaned in frustration and dragged both hands over her face and into her hair in an attempt to calm down. Beca threw the laptop to the side and stood, only grabbing her keycard as she headed out of her hotel room door. She really needed to get out of there. It was stuffy and unkempt, suffocating her with the hot air.

She groaned aloud again. Why the fuck was everything so hot? It was nauseating. She didn't even try to imagine what it would be like to live her. She didn't even realise she was running along the dimly lit corridor now, but she was, converse thudding against the carpet at a rapid pace. The corridor, to her, seemed to go on forever. And she couldn't cope with that. She had to get out, had to get out, had to get-

Without another thought, she rushed around the corner, and smacked straight into the body of a person. As they collided, Beca lost balance, as she often did, even without the added weight of the person now falling onto her. She found herself on the floor a moment later, eyes clenched tightly shut and realising that her arms were wrapped around the body of the stranger in an attempt to keep them both upright. Which obviously failed.

"What the fuck, dude, watch where you're-" She froze as her eyelids shot open. How could she not? Damn, those eyes were blue. Her arms stopped shoving this girl off of her and she just felt herself staring into those damn blue eyes. Damn.

"Going?" The other girl finished for her with a grin. This jogged Beca back into gear, and she resumed pushing blue-eyes off of her (and definitely not a lot more gently this time), pulling herself up off the ground afterwards.

"Uh, yeah." She nodded in thanks to her, avoiding eye contact as she attempted to step around her. But the stranger moved with her, the smile never leaving her face.

"So, you're not egyptian, are you?"

"Uh… No?" Beca blinked.

"You don't seem too sure of yourself." She giggled in return, but Beca's facial expression didn't change. However, she seemed undeterred, "I'm not from around here myself. So, you on holiday or something?"

"I… Sort of." Smooth, Beca. Smooth.

"I guess you could say that about me, too."

"Yeah, that's nice, um, I gotta go." Beca had formulated a plan: escape as quick as possible and avoid any further embarrassment.

"Oh, okay, I'll see you around then?" Plan set into motion. The brunette was already edging around Miss Talks-a-lot as she answered.

"Yeah, sure."

"K, bye!" And then they were both walking in opposite direction without another word. Beca felt herself let out a sigh of relief. Which was stopped abruptly when she called out,

"I'm Chloe Beale, by the way."

Beca was like a statue as she slowly turned around. Chloe. As in coffee-shop-Chloe? Well, there was only one way to find out: by doing the stupidest thing humanly possible.

"Beca. Beca Mitchell." She said slowly. Beca could see it in Chloe's eyes as sudden realisation dawned upon her, too, and the smile was swiftly erased from her face. She knew.

And Beca, if asked about her feelings in that situation, would have probably only said one thing,

"Well, I wasn't expecting her to be so fucking pretty."

Moments later, and the next thing you know she was being shoved into an empty room, currently being cleaned by a maid who gave them both a peculiar look.

"Could you give us a minute?" Chloe urged sweetly, as if this was the most natural thing in the world to her. The maid didn't respond, only shook her head slowly. With a low growl in the back of her throat, Beca stepped forward and addressed the cleaning lady.

"Hal ymkn 'an tuetiana lahzatan min fadlk?" She stated, after just one 'um', which she was very proud of. The maid began shrieking quickly in protest, her speech too fast and complicated for Beca to fully understand as she assisted the older lady out the door.

"Nahtaj faqat lilhadith limuddat daqiqatayn!" The brunnete spoke loudly over her as she ushered her out the door, which she promptly closed in her face.

Chloe, who was standing near thee half-made bed, couldn't help but find the exchange amusing, and giggled. Beca turned to face her, an eyebrow raised.

"Do you find this amusing, Beale?" The brunnette enquired, not finding the situation entertaining at all. Why was this Chloe girl laughing? Why wasn't she showing some sort of normal emotion for the scenario… Like angry? Or scared?

"So you speak arabic?" She ignored the question with her own, and a tilt of her head.

"Yes." Beca spat back, simple and short. It was at this that the redhead decided to become serious, all amusement leaving her face and being replaced with a cold stare. A look Beca had never pictured on the beautiful girl before her, but would never admit to finding slightly alluring in a sexy, mysterious way. _Ugh_ , she thought, _I sound like a pre-pubescent teenage boy_.

"What are you doing here?" The ginger spoke first, filling the still silence. Beca answered quickly, defenses being thrown up wall by wall. This girl was trouble, she knew that.

"I could ask you the same question." There was another beat before Chloe sighed, her arms falling from where they had been tightly crossed.

"Ok, Mitchell, I can tell this is going to go no where. So out with the secrets now. I'm here because I'm looking for part of the golden medallion."

"Then we have a lot to talk about." Beca's tightly locked glare never left her eyes.

* * *

"Emily! Where the hell is Chloe?" The blond in the middle of the lobby screeched down the phone; panic, fear, anger all mixing into one in a scarily easy way. Despite her dangerous look and attitude, her posture remained stiff and straight. Her lips were pulled into a tight line, and her brow was knitted ever so slightly. Only Aubrey Posen could remain looking so prim and proper whilst at the same time, relentlessly terrifying

"I- I don't know! She ran ahead to get dibs on the first bed - you know how she is about windows - and when I got to the room… She wasn't here!" Emily's worried voice crackling through the other end of the line. The reception, ironically at it's best in the reception, was horrible in this tiny little hotel. Aubrey despised travelling. Always lugging around a bag that, despite being properly and efficiently packed, was double your weight, sweating half the time and freezing the other half? That didn't sound particularly appealing to the Aubrey. But she was here for a reason. The medallion. Pleasing her father. All they needed now was to find their disappearing ginger friend and they could get over there ASAP.

"Ugh, that damn redhead!" She half-shrieked, mostly to herself than Emily, "Ok, Emily, just keep looking through the second floor, I'll be up in a minute." She didn't wait for the brunette's stumbled reply before she had hung up and was striding towards the girl behind the desk.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, Miss, how can I help you today?" The girl smiled brightly. Aubrey did not return the happy look.

"Yeah, if a girl with red hair and blue eyes comes down here could you stop her for me and call me right away?" She instructed, sliding a piece of paper with her phone number scribbled upon it messily. The girl blinked, clearly taken aback by the odd request, but nodded anyway and accepted the piece of paper.

"Thanks." And with that she was gone again, striding off towards the elevator in search of the missing girl.

* * *

"Wow, so… You've been tracking this thing for years then, huh?" Beca frowned after Chloe's retelling of the truth. The redhead nodded mutely.

"I have to say, I'm kind of impressed." At this the gingers head shot up from where it was watching her hands play in her lap.

"What?"

"Yeah…"

"Oh…" The girl tried to fight the blush that creeping up her face, as being flustered was not usually her forte. In fact, it was the total opposite of the normal Chloe. So, what the actual hell was going on with her? She shook her head and smirked at Beca, "well, I am pretty impressive."

"And so modest." Beca added with a chuckle. Chloe winked at the professor, and now it was her turn for a light pink to graze her cheeks. She coughed dismissively, and that seemed to bring the ginger back to reality, the smile disappearing from her face as she turned herself onto more pressing matters. Their back-and-forth banter now only being dismissed in their minds as a random memory.

"Miss Mitchell, I have a proposal." Chloe said as she stood from where she had been perched on the half-made sheets of the bed. Beca, still leaning against the opposite wall, raised an eyebrow and nodded for her to continue, "you don't know much about what you're going after. But I do. However, you have information that I would very much like to read. And this expedition can get brutally dangerous, and, as much as my friend Aubrey would like to say she does, none of us speak arabic beyond 'where is the train station?'. I think that it would be in our best interest to tackle this issue together. I think I could help you find your friend, even."

The brunette was chewing on the inside of her cheek, a habit that she had picked up when she was thinking, and she was studying the patterns of the ugly brown carpeted floor.

"So… You want to, in a way, team up?"

"Well, when you say it like that we sound like power rangers, but, yes, essentially."

Another moment of silence passed through the room, as the anxiously awaiting archeologist stared at the teacher before her. Her foot tapped impatiently, and she silently urged Beca for an answer. Chloe Beale had never really been that patient before, but now she was even surprising herself at how much she wanted this downright stranger to answer 'yes'.

Then, Beca was nodding, a smirk playing on her lips as she looked back up at the impatient redhead.

"Yeah… Yeah, I think we could arrange something."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, I'm back! Same as last time, no idea what I'm doing, and I do not own pitch perfect, as much as that would fill my broken little heart. Reviews appreciated! (I should really move this along quicker, sorry that I'm dragging this out, I'll try to next time)**

* * *

Five people occupied the cramped hotel room, dimly lit by the single lightbulb overhead. There was one man, who was standing by the door to the bathroom, his hands shoved in his pockets. He was planning on just coming back to his tiny room to consume his take out, which was currently sitting in a plastic bag by his feet, but had been shocked when opening the door and finding 3 strangers standing around. He had cast a confused glance to his roommate, who had told him to 'relax'. Which had consequently, made him a lot less relaxed.

The tallest of the girls, and, also, the smallest, was fiddling nervously with her shirt sleeve, her eyes never leaving the tiny woman across from her. She sat on the edge of the bed beside a redhead, who, upon seeing her so distraught, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The smallest was a brunette, who was playing with a silver cigarette lighter, the small flame flickering upwards for a few seconds before being diminished by the release of the owners thumb. The last, a tall blond, looked like she was about to burst in anger as she passed her distressed glare between every person in the room, her moss green eyes lingering on the small brunette girl who was slumped lazily on a chair in the corner of the room. She herself was stood tightly and rigidly by the exit. It wasn't very clear if she was there, ready to run at any point, or to stop others from fleeing the scene.

Soon, the tension in the air was suffocatingly high in the early evening warmth, a slight breeze floating in from the open sliding doors, that lead to a balcony overlooking the street below, a few neighbouring rooftops, and not much else.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on!" The blond finally exclaimed, her back tense and her fists clenched into tight balls. Everyone jumped slightly at her sharp tone cutting through the silence like a knife, apart from the girl that continued to fiddle with the lighter. Ironic, as the question was mostly aimed at her.

"Aubrey, calm down." The redhead had stood, approaching her stiff friend slowly.

"I can't, Chloe! You've stuck me in this room with two complete strangers and you've said nothing about it!" Her voice was still rise, and she was gesturing wildly to Beca and Jesse, who exchanged looks at the behaviour or the blond.

"Okay, okay, maybe your right. Aubrey, this is Beca Mitchell." Chloe sighed, looking towards the brunette on the bed with a soft smile.

"That hardly helps, Chloe."

"No, but, seriously, Becs, who are these people?" Now it was the young man's turn to speak, his question directed to Beca. Slowly, and with a discomforted grunt, she slipped the light back into her pocket and answered in a lazy tone.

"These people are gonna help us find Benji, we're gonna help them find the medallion."

"Can we trust them?"

"I'd like to think so." Beca shrugged, and that seemed enough fro Jesse, for now he was smiling again.

"Cool." The three other girls looked at the pair in shock, clearly astounded at how relaxed they were with the new development in there plan. The brown haired man had no trouble trusting his friend, and, therefore, no trouble trusting these three strangers. The quick, cool exchange seemed to bring the tension in the room down a lot, and, for the first time since she had arrived, the brunette sat on the bed looked like she had begun breathing again.

"Oh... I guess I'm good with this. I'm Emily, by the way." Emile introduced herself with a small smile and a slight wave of her hand. The two other friends returned the gesture, Beca with a slight pull of her lips on the left side and Jesse with a full on goofy grin. Chloe could barely hold back a chuckle. It was astounding that these two majorly contrasting personalities could ever come together to from a friendship. From what she had seen so far of the two, they got along well, but were different in every possible way. It was calming, sort of, maybe even refreshing to see something so bright and positive in this horrible world of there's.

"Well, this is Aubrey. She helped me search for all the information I have and helped me wherever she could. She's one of my best friends and I couldn't have done any of this without her. She's really important to me." Chloe grinned at Aubrey, who couldn't help but return the smile.

"I suppose that this is in our best interest." Aubrey sighed, nodding curtly at Beca and Jesse in greeting.

"Becs, aren't you going to introduce me?" Jesse poked her shoulder.

"Oh, sure. Everybody this is my manservant, douchebag. He's a raging alcoholic and he hasn't had a bath in three years so don't get too close." Beca smirked, receiving a small punch in the arm from 'douchebag', "Ow! See, I told you!"

"Alright, you two, enough fooling around. We're leaving now but meet us tomorrow in the lobby, 8:00 AM sharp. Don't you dare be late." Aubrey warned with narrowed eyes, striding out of the room only a moment later. With apologetic smiles, and a quick wave goodbye, her other two friends exited after her.

* * *

It was 8:10 AM when frantic knocking could be heard, firm and fast, against the door of Beca and Jesse's cramped hotel room. The brunette moaned lazily as she was ripped from her pleasant slumber, and shoved into the harsh reality of day. She thought, for a moment, that is she merely ignored the insistent knocking, the person behind the door would get the hint and leave soon enough. She was wrong. With a loud, inhuman-like groan, she pulled herself from under her warm sheets and dragged her feet to open the door.

Relying on Jesse to answer it would have ended miserably, considering the brunette boy's deep sleeping habits. Seriously, she would need to physically jump on him in order to even slightly drag him from his sleep. Something that, although entertaining on some occasions, was rather a nuisance in situations such as this.

The door flung open abruptly, and Beca, squinting slightly with a furrowed brow, glared at the tall blond who returned the harsh look all too easily. One might find it easy to assume that she had already been wearing the unpleasant look.

"What?" Beca deadpanned, clearly unhappy to be disturbed.

"You were supposed to meet us at 8:00." Aubrey snapped

"Oh shit, yeah, what time is it now?" Beca replied, but clearly not that bothered by disappointing the girl.

"8:10. Do you not have a watch?"

"No. I have a phone." The girl offered lamely, with a slight shrug. Unimpressed, Aubrey huffed in annoyance, her fists clenching.

"Just hurry up and get ready or we're leaving with out you."

"Morning, Beca!" A cheery voice called and the brunette poked her head out to see a fast approaching Chloe coming up behind her blond friend. In her hand, she clutched a tray of coffee's, quickly leaning over Aubrey's shoulder to deposit one in Beca's hands, "didn't know what you liked, so just got you black."

Surprised, Beca blinked down at the takeaway paper cup in her hand, feeling the heat radiating off of it pleasantly. The smell, surprisingly nice for hotel coffee, drifted up her voice alluringly. Beca was reminded once more of how much she loved coffee and should definitely appreciate the hot beverage a lot more. This girl, this almost stranger, whom she had literally only met in person _the other day_ , had just spent her own money to get her a coffee. Not that she was complaining but the gesture was just so... _Nice_.

"Um... Uh... No, that's fine... Thanks." Beca commented lamely, looking up to meet the gorgeous eyes of the grinning ginger once more and, like every time before, having the breath practically knocked out of her thanks to the sheer colour. That had to get old soon, because, seriously, Beca really liked breathing.

"No problem," She smiled sweetly, then added "cute pyjamas," with a wink.

Looking down, the professor really hoped her face wasn't burning as red hot as it felt like right now. The short woman had completely forgotten about her sleeping outfit that consisted of a white baggy shirt with 'I'll be your breakfast bagel' printed across (and there was totally not a picture of a kawaii bagel winking underneath), accompanied by a pair of very fashionable spiderman shorts.

"Um... Thanks. Again. Ok, bye." With that the history teacher slammed the door shut. Chloe grinned wildly, but soon sipped innocently at her caramel latte. Aubrey raised an eyebrow at her redheaded friend.

"What?" The ginger fought to keep the smirk off her face, but soon let it slip on with a giggle, "She's cute!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later - much to Aubrey's dismay - Aubrey, Emily and Chloe were occupying the small set of sofa's in the corner of the lobby, just as the two professors stumbled from the elevator, a piece of toast hanging from Jesse's mouth and the back pocket of Beca's denim shorts stuffed with tiny nutella sachet's after their quick stop at the free breakfast buffet on the way down.

"Hey guys!" Jesse called cheerily, hopping as he tried to do up his left shoe lace. Aubrey stood quickly, throwing her bag over her shoulder and rolling her eyes at the two of them.

"Well, it's about time! Come on, we are already so behind!" She ordered, already making her way towards the door, where the harsh sunlight streamed in, lighting up the whole room.

"Dude, does she ever stop?" Beca whined to no one in particular, tying the sleeves of her plaid short loosely around her waist, in a tiny effort too look somewhat acceptable for the outside. Chloe was right there beside her, however, answering her question with a little chuckle.

"That's just Aubrey. She likes schedules."

As the other four trailed behind a leading Aubrey, Beca took a moment to appreciate the redheads attention to her outfit. Similar to her, she had on a pair of high-waisted, light, denim shorts, but instead of a black top which she tucked in, the woman had let her canary yellow vest hang loose over the top. Paired with some circular white sunglasses perches atop her head, and a small brown shoulder bag which she gripped the strap of loosely, and she looked like she had just jumped out of some sort of magazine. The brunette was in silent awe of how damn perfect this girl could look when she had, apparently, gotten up before 8:00.

"You know, you're pyjama's really were cute." Chloe piped up suddenly, making Beca snap back to reality and groan at the comment.

"Oh god, please shut up."

"I'm serious!" The redhead giggle, nudging her slightly with her shoulder, "you looked down right adorable."

And Beca was - _was_ \- going to blush. She could feel it, but she forced down when she remembered who she was. Beca _effin_ Mitchell. She was the one who blushed in there scenarios.

"Bet you look cute in your pyjamas." Beca fired back. _Nice_.

"Oh, you have no idea." Chloe smirked with a wink. _Fuck_.

* * *

The five of them squeezed into the tiny rented convertible car, Aubrey at the steering wheel, Emily in the passenger seat, and Chloe accompanying Jesse and Beca in the back. There was, of course, come grumbling from the short brunette, because being squished against a car door and a gorgeous brunette was not how she was planning on spending her time, but, _hey_. After a few attempts, the car sputtered to life and Beca was pretty sure it was going to blow up and they were all going to die. Which wouldn't have been a great conclusion to the epic tale of how she followed the trail of her missing best friend halfway around the world.

The young professor expected the ride to be quiet and awkward, the group having not had a proper conversation before now, but Emily's ecstatic personality that made her laugh at everything, mixed with Jesse's stupid jokes and too vast knowledge of movies, meant the drive was easily casual. It was as if they had all been friends for years, and the upbeat environment made Beca a lot more comfortable with being stuck in this car with Chloe practically on her lap.

They were already passed the city walls now, venturing deep into the desert, and Beca would have been nervous for their destination and if they were ever going to make it back, were it not for Aubrey confidence behind the wheel. It occurred to her that she and Jesse had no idea what they were going to do, had it not been for these three girls. What was there plan, even? Walk around asking random people questions? Stroll aimlessly out into the desert and most likely die? Wow, she was more of an idiot than she realised.

It was at this point that she realised it might be a good idea to actually read into Benji's book. So, hesitantly, she retrieved it from her backpack and began leafing through pages. She really wasn't expecting Chloe to lean incredibly close to her face in order to study along with her. In surprise, she turned her head, coming face to face with the redhead.

"Oh, sorry, you don't mind if I read some do you?" She asked, and Beca was unsure if she just didn't care, or was unfazed by their close proximity.

"Y-yeah, that's fine, go for it." She mumbled, quickly facing back to the pages. Oh god this girl was going to be the death of her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Why hello there people of earth, I have returned with another chapter for you. Its late again (sorry), hope you enjoy and, again, reviews are appreciated and I do not own pitch perfect.**

"There!" It was the abrupt shout from Chloe as she leaned eagerly over Aubrey's shoulder that caused the carve to swerve violently. Chloe was thrown backwards at the force, causing her to promptly fall into a startled Beca's lap: completely missing her seat. Aubrey scrabbled messily to get back under control of the car, eventually stopping the manic movements.

"Jesus, Chloe!" Aubrey scalded with a harsh tone. Chloe, seemingly unfazed, pulled herself off of Beca's lap and leant forward over Aubrey's shoulder once more. Beca tried desperately to not feel cold where the redheads touch was once occupying.

"Right there! Aubrey I see it! Turn! _Tuuuuurn_!" Chloe yelled, shaking the blonds head rest roughly like some young child begging to stop for ice cream on the way home.

Squinting her eyes, Aubrey could just make out a small shadowy lump that interrupted the sharp horizon up ahead, standing further to the left of the path they had been following. Beca sat up immediately one she saw the shape, because that meant she was closer. Closer to the medallion. Closer to Benji. She waited for a moment, waiting for Aubrey to turn, but the driver did nothing but increase their speed slightly as they stayed on the dirt path.

"Hey! What are you dong!?" Beca asked, shocked. What was this girl waiting for.

"That's off the road, and this car is not built for that, neither am I equipped to drive on sand. We'll wait until we're further up than we can stop and walk to it." Aubrey explained with a roll of her eyes.

"Walk? You've got to be kidding me." The brunette almost laughed at her acquantances antics.

"I'm afraid I'm not, Mitchell, so sit back and suck it up." She ordered. The professor froze for a few seconds, staring at this girl in downright shock. Even Jesse's eyes widened from the back seat as he glanced at his best friend nervously. Because _nobody_ talked to Beca Mitchell that way. Lest they wanted to be at the receiving end of her infamous left hook. Then, without warning, the brunette leaned forward and grabbed the steering wheel, yanking it not-so-gracefully to the left.

The car swerved violently for the second time in the last 5 minutes, making everyone inside began to shriek, either in anger, shock, or fear, in Emily's case. The vehicle rumbled roughly over the new terrain, moving aggressively as the two girls gripping the wheel fought over dominance of it. Yelling and shouting erupted over Emily's repetitive, loud statement of "we're going to die, we're going to die".

Chloe and Jesse tried desperately to wrestle Beca into the backseat again, but to no avail, the smaller girl, instead, clambering over the island between to two front seat to allow for better access. The whole time, Aubrey screamed into the alt girls ear for her to let go or she swears her vocal chords would be ripped out by wolves. Overall, the scene would be entertaining, would it not be for the very real fact that the two girls in the front would most likely cause the deaths of all of the people inside.

"You better let go, Mitchell, or I swear to God-"

"Come at me, Posen! I ain't scared of you!"

"It's ' _NOT'_ scared! And you really, really should be, now let go!"

"You let go!"

"I was here first!"

"We'll get there quicker this way!"

"I don't-"

"GUYS! BREAK!" Emily screamed and, on instinct, Beca slammed her foot onto the pedal, skidding the car to left as they stopped three feet away from the pile of rocks they had been heading in the direction of. Silence filled the once ecstatic space, but only for a mere minute because once again Aubrey and Beca were at each others throats.

"What the hell was that, Mitchell!" Aubrey demanded, watching as Beca kicked open the door and sidled out casually. She shrugged with one shoulder as she dug into her back pocket, pulling out the leather book.

"Becs, seriously, what were you doing?" Jesse asked, eyes still wide from the near-death experience, Chloe following soon after with the same expression. Still inside the car, however, Emily seemed to be taking a few minutes in order to allow the colour to return to her pale sheet-like face and for her breathing to slow from the rapid breaths she was taking.

"I got us here quicker." Beca stated simply, moving around the lump of stone. Aubrey stared at her, fire alight in her eyes with pure and utter hatred.

"You're _insane_." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, trying to calm herself down. There was only another shrug on Beca's part.

"Maybe." She shifted around again, and then, reading from Benji's book, placed a hand flat against one of the sandy stones. The brunette, ever so slightly, shifted the rock to the left, allowing a thud to occur when it reached it's limit point. The sand beneath her feet fell away, revealing a tunnel, attached to the side a flimsy looking ladder, that lead to a darkness unknown. A dripping sound could be the only noise heard from within.

"Uh... What the hell is that?" Jesse asked skeptically. Chloe, a grin stretching onto he face, brushed past the clueless boy.

"That's what we've been looking for."

"A hole?" He questioned as he went to stand beside the three girls that were now grouped around the brim.

"It's not just a hole, though. Down there, somewhere, is where apart of the silver medallion is." Aubrey chimed in, apparently the whole incident completely forgotten.

They stared for a few minutes more in awe-struck silence, simply absorbing the moment. It was broken soon enough, when Jesse looked sheepishly up at the three girls surrounding the hole.

"Ladies first?" He tried, but Beca only shot a glare at him before beginning her descent into the unknown. Chloe followed soon after, a determined, but excited look on her face. Jesse, after exchanging a look with Aubrey, finally cracked and gulped before he climbed into what could be his death. When he finally was far enough down, the blond placed her foot on the first step, but looked up at Emily, who was still half-hyperventilating in the seat of the car.

"You'll be okay to stay up here, Em?" She asked. In an attempt to communicate, Emily threw up her hand - that had been placed flat against her chest - towards her friend and mumbled a weak "emahha", which seemed to be good enough for Aubrey.

Beca was the first to reach the bottom of the hole first, her feet splashing into unknown waters.

"Ergh." She groaned in disgust, her nose furrowing up in a scowl. The feeling of murky liquids seeping through her shoes and into her socks was rather unpleasant to the professor, especially in the dark. Moving slightly to Chloe could step into the narrow space after her, she rummaged through her bag for a moment before pulling out a small, compact flashlight.

"Here we go." She mumbled in triumph, switching the device on, only to shine it right into Chloe's face, "Jesus, sorry!"

The redhead only blinked a few times in surprise, before a brilliant smile shone brighter than the light Beca was holding. The brunette flicked the torch downwards, with a nervously.

"No, probs, Becs." Chloe said, probably with a grin, but it was hard to tell in the dark light. But the brunette was very sure the girls smile never left her beautiful face. Beautiful face. She really just mentally said that. Wait, did she just call her Becs?

"Oh, and as fond as I am of you, I'm not sure shining that flashlight at my crotch is going to get you into my pants." Chloe said, and this time Beca was sure she was smirking. The professor looked down, noticing the beam was shining onto the older girls crotch. Again, and this time blushing profusely, she shone the light away.

She agreed that she was exceedingly lucky that, at that moment, Jesse's ass decided to poke itself into the picture. And she never thought that she'd ever think that Jesse's ass was lucky.

"Guys, scootch over, will you?" At the boys request, she swallowed thickly to try and settle her complete embarrassment and bright red face, and turned swiftly, wading off through the murky depths of the tunnel.

The darkness surrounded her, capturing her, netting her in an endless wave of the complete unknown. If she were anyone else but Beca Mitchell, she knew she would be running scared. If her best friend wasn't missing with minimal clues in order to find him, she would be long gone. But she continued to remind herself. _I'm Beca Mitchell. I'm not scared of things, things are scared of me_. So with a new found determination, Beca glared at what she could see of the soggy trail, and stepped up her pace. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left- woah, what the hell was that?

The professor flinched slightly at the feeling of touch on her left arm, but soon realised it was a hand. And the hand belonged to Chloe. Who was moving directly behind her. This news did nothing to calm her beating heart, but she remained at a steady pace, trying to play off completely cool.

"Sorry," she heard the redhead whisper in her ear, which unknowingly caused a shiver down Beca's spine, "This place is just kinda freaky."

 _What the hell was that supposed to mean?_ Beca was just going over the possibilities of her travel partners words, and whether or not this meant she felt safer with Beca, when suddenly the floor below her gave way.

Moments later, she was barreling straight down an cramped dark tube, the sound of rushing water crashing against her ears, whilst the sensation of the freezing liquid soaked her clothes through and peppered her skin. It stang in her eyes and against her porcelain skin. She tried to take a breath, but every time she opened her mouth it was filled with more of the salty, dirty water that she was forced to swallow. She wanted it to stop. It was a horrible sensation, her eyes opening to see dark, damp rock right in front of her face, illuminated every so often by her flashlight, that was now flipping around, loose, around her. Just behind her, she heard Chloe shrieking as she endured the watery hell, too.

Far too late, the brunette felt the sharp stone against her back disappear for a few seconds, before she was plunged into a pool. Not the nice, holiday, heated-by-the-sun pool, but the cold, dark, you're-going-to-die-in-here pool. A type of pool that, luckily, Beca had never had the displeasure of experiencing.

Until now.

She couldn't breathe. Completely and utterly blocking all windpipes. Water was everywhere. Why couldn't she breathe? It was hurting. Burning.

Flailing her arms wildly to try and escape this deep blue prison, Beca felt another being being thrown into the water beside her, them copying her actions just as manically as the bubbles swirled round both of them. The brunette could only guess that it was Chloe, who would definitely be just as deprived as oxygen as she was. She realised, that the pool was dragging them in the harder they thrashed at the water. She had to figure out a way to get out. Soon. But calmly.

The professor, taking things slowly but efficiently, slipped an arm tightly around the redheads waist, pulling her close to her, before focusing her strength, and angling Chloe's body in the right way, into pushing them both nearer the shallow area.

They broke the surface in a symphony of frantic gasps for breath and loud breathing. Both of their bodies finding energy as they troop water for a few seconds.

"J... Jesus." Chloe rasped, blue eyes wide as she looked over at Beca. As best she could, Beca simply shrugged, "guess I... Sort of owe you one."

"S'nothing." Beca brushed it off, turning to swim away to the edge of the pool, and, coincidentally, hiding her blush.

The two pulled themselves onto the muddy edge, lying on their backs as they tried desperately to regain more breath. The teacher stared idly at the roof of the dimly lit cave they appeared to be in. She scoffed aloud. _More like death trap_.

Thats when her eyes swept over to the redhead next to her, who was now stirring, attempting to lift herself off of the floor, and Beca, in the least creepy way possible, enjoyed the sight of a soaking wet Chloe. Ginger curls plastered to her scalp, allowing the complete view of her beautiful, wet face. True, her make up was slightly smudged, her lips were tinged blue, and her face was flushed red, but she was still just as gorgeous as the first time Beca scalded her. And she really did try to keep her eyes on the redheads face, but she couldn't help the quick sweep they performed to glance at the woman's perfectly sculpted body that was now dripping with water, her clothes soaked through to show off way more than appropriate.

Before she let herself go any further, considering her observation a mere victory prize due to her job of not dying, she lifted her body, that appeared to be much heavier then before, off of the floor and onto her feet.

Chloe was up beside her, and the two of them shared a small smile, before they went about looking around the small, stone room. It didn't take long for them to find something.

Just as the coffee shop owner approached a rock pedestal, centered right in the middle of the space, her brown haired companion crouched down to inspect a discarded leather whip left sprawled over the floor.

"Beca..." Chloe called out to her as she picked up the piece of paper left of the pedestal.

"Chloe..." Beca returned as she gripped the handle of the peculiar weapon and lifted it from the floor. The two turned to face each other, baring their pieces of evidence to show the other.

"Shit." Beca cursed.

"We're too late." Her companion mumbled solemnly.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the disappearance, guys. One minute I was neck deep in writing Bechloe fanfiction, the next I just have absolutely no interest in literature of any kind. Writer's block, the stress of exams, don't know what caused it. But it doesn't matter, because I'm back now! Hope you can forgive me. Anyway, on with this bull.

Disclaimer: Contains some strong language. Also I don't own pitch perfect.

"What do we do now?" Chloe's voice echoed around the cave, breaking the silence that had settled between after the revelation. That was the big question really, what do they do now? Well, shit, Beca didn't know. But she couldn't tell her that. There had to be hope. For God's sake, Benji was still missing and Chloe had spent her life trying to find that stupid medallion. There was still time. There was still the other half of the medallion. Right now, they had bigger problems, however.

"Well, I guess the main priority is to get out of here." Beca sighed, cold blue eyes scanning the interior of the small cavern.

"And then?" The redhead asked the professor, nervously fiddling with the piece of paper she had found in place of the medallion. The brunette eyed it, and, silently, held out her hand to ask to see it. It was placed in her hand gingerly, and it was as if, for the first time, Chloe had realised that the paper was there as well. She came to stand beside Beca as she opened the folded parchment to reveal short scribblings, written in pencil.

"It's a letter." Beca stated in surprise, the two of them reading it silently, and, as they did so, Chloe took a nervous grip on the brunettes bicep. Oh. Oh, this was bad.

Hello,

I don't know who you are, and you don't know who I am, but I think that's about to change.

I want the medallion, and you want the medallion. And only one of us is going to get it.

And that person is going to be me.

BA

"Shit…" Beca mumbled under her breath.

"Who's BA?" Chloe asked at the same volume, confusion and worry lacing her voice. It was more as if she was talking to herself than Beca.

"I don't know," She grumbled, folding the paper and tucking it into her bag, "but I don't like them, so we're definitely not doing as they say."

With that, she wandered off towards the pool, looking around for a way out. Chloe smirked as she watched her, the atmosphere changing at Beca's amusing proclamation.

"Do you do that with everyone you don't like?" She asked. Beca shrugged.

"Pretty much. Now help me find a way out."

The next ten minutes were spent fruitlessly searching the cavern for some sort of way of escape. That's when Beca tripped over a rock and hurtled, headfirst back into the pool, a string of curse words escaping her lips before she tumbled into the cold waters with splash. She remained still for a few seconds, internally sighing at her own ridiculousness because-

She had fallen back into the pool she had tried extremely hard to get out of.

There was a pretty girl right behind her and she probably looked ridiculous.

So, good job, Beca. You done good.

It was then that she caught a glimpse of a hole at the bottom of the pool, about a metre in width. That must have been what was causing her and Chloe to be pulled downwards. That means that somewhere down there was air, which was creating a vacuum.

'Okay, so, considering there is no other way out of here, and yet somehow someone did manage to get in and out before, I may-or-may-not be about to make the stupidest decision of my life. Actually, now I thinks about it, knowing me, possibly the year. Or the day, if I'm gonna be realistic.' The young professor thought.

She surged up to grab a gulpfull of air, then tried to ignore Chloe because - of course - she was laughing at her, as she grabbed her hand and pulled her down into the water.

"What the hell, Beca!?" The ginger choked out once she has broken the surface. The professor tried to bite back a smirk. 'Goddamn right, you better stop laughing'.

"So I have a terrible idea that could probably get us both killed. Let's go swim down into that hole in the bottom of the pool. Sound good? Great!" And before Chloe can object, Beca was diving down and the former coffee shop owner was left with no choice but to take a deep breath and swim after her acquaintance.

Her current relationship with Beca was one that incredibly confused her. Normally Chloe was not the kind of person to worry about that sort of thing, easily taking to people and forming quick friendships. That's just the kind of person she is. But Beca was somehow different. It could be because they were both just too focused on the medallion to try and form any sort of relationship at the moment. Chloe would definitely enjoy that, though. Because Beca Mitchell was a girl shrouded in mystery, and here she was traveling the country with her. Purely for safety reasons, she would try to figure out more about this girl. Yes, safety. But, really, Chloe should be focusing on their quest for the medallion, she knew that. And also that she was following this random, stupid girl, and being sucked into the unknown: a.k.a. That weird-ass tunnel filled with water which leads to god-knows-where.

Right now, she had no idea what she was doing.

But she was trusting Beca.

Which, a few seconds later, she's regretting.

They were thrust into the murky depths of another pool in a cave, and as they swam upwards to break the surface, she noticed that the cave was blanketed in complete darkness, which was not very comforting. She could feel her brunette companion treading water next to her as she gasped for air, which settles the redhead's stomach a little bit. At least she's not alone if she dies. Then a beam of light spins from under the surface, illuminating Beca's face for only a moment. And Chloe's confusion is almost swept away as the beauty of Beca Mitchell hits her at full force. Damn, if she were Chloe's professor back in college, she probably would have payed way more attention in her classes. Even with soaking wet hair and smudged eyeliner, her sharp jaw and cobalt blue eyes struck at Chloe's stomach and shook awake butterflies that then flittered around her chest. Oh, God, she could not be crushing on this arrogant, tiny, ball of angst, could she?

The beam passed again and Chloe seems to come back to reality to realise Beca had dived back under and swam back up, now clutching her once-lost torch. The ginger gasped because - wow - that is a durable torch, where did she get that?

"Thank fuck, this thing was expensive." She heard Beca mumbling to herself as she turned the torch to the walls and the ceiling of the cave, trying to suss out the current situation. Which was not good. The cave had no ground or sand, instead it was more like an underwater tanking which was - apparently - filling up with water. Oh, goddamn, beca had about had enough of water at this point. She'd have to swear of the stuff if she didn't need it to live.

"This is bad!" The ginger whimpered as they rose higher to the ceiling. Once the water levels has reached the top they would have no air to breath, which would surely result in them drowning and - consequently - dying. Beca, in a desperate attempt to try and find a way out, started hitting at the rock walls with her "extremely expensive" torch to try and dislodge the stone. It was pitiful, really, but, at that point, Chloe would try anything. So she also turned to the other wall and slammed into it with her shoulder. She cried out in pain at the feeling of the jagged rocks being smashed into her skin. But she didn't want to die. Oh, no, not yet. She she tried again, by now practically crying. She wasn't ready to die.

"Chloe!" She heard Beca cry out as she tried to do it once more, and then arms were being looped around her and they pulled her away, and into the warmth that was Beca Mitchell. The arms didn't let go even as she stopped fighting them.

She was just lying there, as the cold water floated her and Beca's arms enveloped her and the darkness overtook her sight and the sound of rushing water and her own soft sobbing was the the only thing that could be heard.

"Shh…" The small brunette mumbled into her ear, hand soothingly rubbing over the shoulder that Chloe had used to try and take down the rock.

"Be-Beca I don't want to die." She managed in between sniffles. Professor Mitchell took a shaky breath, her eyes clenching shut.

"M-me neither." She shook her head. There was only about two head spaces left between them and the stone ceiling, "I'm really s-sorry. This is… This is my fault."

"No it's not. I followed you, that was my choice. I couldn't let you have all the fun, huh?" Chloe giggled sadly. She could feel the girl next to her chuckle slightly. There was only about a few centimetres left, and the two could feel themselves begin to panic again, as they had to tilt their heads to keep their tear-streaked faces above water.

"Chloe…" Beca managed between gasps.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I met you." The redhead couldn't stop the smile that reached her cheeks.

"You too, Becs."

Then they took their last breaths as the dark water overtook their heads.

Chloe didn't remember much after that. Just the cold. The cold and the darkness as she floated through - what felt like - empty space.

Then there was this gurgling sound, and she was being pulled upwards, and then there was light, and then-

"HOLY FUCK!" Beca screamed as they were shot into the air like ragdolls and then landed, rolling down a golden sand dune until they were a breathless heap at the base of the mound. They were soaking, covered in dust and sand, their hair ratty, make-up aggressively smudged over their face and clothes unsalvageable. Due to exhaustion, all they could do was stare at the clear blue of the sky and try to calm their breathing. But they were alive.

As if to confirm that this was reality, Chloe Beale reached out and took Beca Mitchell's hand in hers, their fingers interlocking. Normally, the shorter women would not be one for hand-holding, but she was just so glad to know she wasn't dead that she could help the rare ear-to-ear grin that was sliding its way onto her face.

"We're alive."

"Yep."

"Thank God for that."

"I didn't think you were religious."

"I'm not but, you know, just in case. Gotta let 'em know I'm thankful."

The ginger laughed, "You're such an idiot."

"CHLOE!?" They heard a shriek and turned their heads to see Aubrey and Jesse, relief stricken across their faces, as they rushed towards them.

Seeing her friend, she sat up, releasing Beca's hand and enveloping the blond in a tight hug.

"Bree! I thought I was gonna die, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you!" She squealed, tightening her hold.

"Chloe, when you fell down that hole- I just didn't know what to- I was so worried!" Aubrey stuttered out- which was weird because Aubrey Posen was not a stutterer. Emily quickly rushed over and fell onto her knees next to Aubrey, joining their embrace.

"Oh my stars, Chloe you're alright!" She sounded just as relieved as Aubrey, a happy grin - the one that the ginger compared to a chipmunk - plastered on her face.

Jesse looked down at his friend.

"Sup, nerd." She greets without getting up.

"Glad you're not dead, dork." The brown haired boy grins. He laughs at her appearance, and she does get up, but only to hit him.

Back at the hotel, they were all crammed into Chloe's hotel room (apparently the other three got their own rooms, even though the hotel stated they were too full when Beca attempted to not have to share with Jesse. She had two theories: Jesse bribed them to say that, or they hated her. She had no idea which seemed more plausible). The letter that Chloe found was completely soaked and almost falling apart, but what they did have was laid out on the desk, and what could be remembered between those who had read it had been recited to the others. But really, they were just all wondering who BA was. That was the only clue given to who had taken Benji.

"This is a disaster!" Aubrey yelled, her - somehow - perfectly curled hair bounced as she paced the floor beside the window. Chloe, who was perched on the edge of the desk, her wet hair pulled up and wrapped in a towel rolled her eyes at her eyes at her friends dramatics.

"Bree, will you calm down? We can figure this out." She attempted to calm the girl down.

"Yeah. I mean it shouldn't be that hard." Emily shrugged from where was sitting in a chair beside Chloe. The tall girl had a pencil clamped in her hand and was jotting things down on a spare piece of paper.

"Yeah, you know you're right. I mean, how many people in the world can possibly have the initials BA, right?" Aubrey shot back sarcastically, spite in her voice and anger aflame in her eyes. All Beca could think was that she was glad this chick was on her side. She thinks. She's been getting some pretty nasty glares from her ever since they met.

"Unfortunately, she has a point." Beca sighed, running a hand through her now clean her. The brunette has never felt so good after a shower. After-travel showers are nothing compared to after-near-death-experience showers.

"Of course I do. Not to mention, they have the first have the medallion which I have kind of spent my whole life trying to get, and they're probably already on their way to the other half and we don't leave until tomorrow, that's at least 15 hours behind them-"

"I know who has it." Jesse interrupts. The girls all look over at him, surprise evident on their face. Because, until now, Jesse has been completely silent from when they read the letter aloud.

"You do?" Beca asks, standing upright from leaning against the wardrobe. Her best friend nods.

"Bumper Allen." He announces, a defiant look on his face that proves he is positive of his theory. And Beca feels like an idiot because Bumper is an idiot and, yeah, of course it's him. Beca glanced over at the three girls whose faces were blank in confusion. Oh yes, she momentarily forget that they were not professors of history and/or archaeology.

"Notorious jewel thief, artifact stealer, calls himself a 'priceless items collector', and just general dick head." The part-time DJ filled in for them, shrugging one shoulder.

"Okay so this… Bumper Allen… He has the medallion?" Chloe asked for confirmation, receiving a nod in return from both Beca and her best friend. That was not exactly what she wanted to hear.

"This… This is not good, is it?" Emily tried to clarify.

"No. But at least we know who has it now. We know who has Benji. We can get the other half before he does. We will get Benji back." Jesse stood up in determination. At the action, Beca cocked an eyebrow at him, but rolled with it. She had learned not to question anything he does. It's not like the situation had changed, they were still heading for the airport tomorrow morning, off to find the other medallion.

"Jesse's right," Aubrey chimed in, "So let's head off to bed, we have a big day tomorrow." She clapped her arms, as a sign for them all to disperse, which Beca did not appreciate because - what the hell, don't tell her what to do - so she hung around and simply watched them all leave the room for their respective hotel rooms.

It took a full minute for her to realise that now it was just her and Chloe. Alone. In a hotel room. Now, Beca can't lie, she's been in this situation before, and it has had an extremely different outcome to what she was expecting to happen. Because, let's not forget, they were also in extremely different conditions.

With a tight-lipped smile, the professor awkwardly nods in a sort-of 'goodbye', and turns to head towards the door, but not before she is stopped by the redhead.

"Wait, Beca?" She calls, and the brunette casts a glance over her shoulder. She almost melts then and there, forgetting that Chloe was only wearing a loose-fitting tank top and some sleeping shorts which left very little the imagination. Her hair had been released from its towel prison and the damp, copper locks were hanging over one shoulder as the owner rubbed the towel through them one final time. Beca could not understand how a girl could be so cute and so hot at the same time. It was witchcraft, really, and also completely unfair.

"Yes?" She tried to wheeze out in response, but her voice was weak and broke halfway through, so she cleared her throat, blinked, and attempted in a lower voice, "Yeah?"

Which would of worked, if the girl before her wasn't giggling at her already. Luckily, she said nothing and glanced at the floor, continuing,

"Just wondering if you'd like to stay for a glass of wine? It's been a stressful day and I could really use the company." Chloe shrugged, that perfect smile fixed in place that Beca was growing to love, even though she had known her for just over a day.

The brunette raised an eyebrow at her, a little taken aback, and the women took it as a sign to elaborate, "I don't wanna pressure you or anything. I just wanna watch bad late-night TV and get drunk. Which might be a little sad if I did it alone." She giggled and Beca decided that that giggle was one of her new favourite songs. She wanted to blend it into every mix she created and weave it into the base line of every song she's ever listened to just because she knew it would make them sound so much more pleasing to the ear.

But to stay would be a bad idea. To allow her crush on this girl to grow would be a bad idea. Beca could turn around now and go to her room and not even talk to Chloe anymore and things would be find. She could shut her out, just like everybody else, and be done with… Whatever this was. Beca Mitchell's mind was not an idiotic one. She could not fall in love with this girl. By staying, that would be allowing the journey to start. She could already feel it on the brink of occurring and she was not equipped to deal with the inevitable heartbreak. Just turn around, Beca. And everything will be fine. Unfortunately, Beca Mitchell never listens to logic.

"Okay. Just no movies." She shrugged, closing the door and flopping onto the couch in front of the Tv, flicking it on, as her companion for the evening rummaged through the mini-bar and produced a bottle of wine.

"Wouldn't dream of it." The redhead giggled.

It was almost 2 in the morning and the both of them had had a rather sizeable amount to drink, as was clearly evident in their behaviour. They started off pretty normally, Chloe at one end of the couch, Beca on the other, sipping from the bottle that they passed between them (because of course the hotel supplies wine but no wine glasses). The Tv was on and they criticized anything and everything that flickered on screen.

"Oh she had definitely had some work done, that is a lie."

"There is no way that she actually used that cream at any point in her life."

"They just changed the picture from black and white to normal! There is no fucking difference!"

But as they moved on to their second bottle (and also beers), they began to ignore the television and just began chatting about anything and everything.

"Wait, hold on, you were in an Acapella group?"

"Shut the hell up, Mitchell. We competed in national championships!"

"On purpose?"

Beca barely even noticed (or maybe she did and she just chose to ignore it) when Chloe began shifting over every so often until she was resting into Beca's side. The brunette didn't even flinch at the physical contact, and instead sunk into it. She would have blamed the wine.

"Listen, listen, Chloe." The shorter girl slurred as she sipped from her half-empty beer bottle.

"Yeeeeep?" Chloe, for some reason, dragged out the word as long as possible and beamed up at the girl she was practically using as a human mattress.

"L-listen. Chlo. Ey. Chlo. Eeey. It sounds… Like Glowey! An-and you're really really re-glowey!" The professor interrupted herself many a times as she attempted to get her point across. At the revelation, the redhead gasped and her smile grew wider - if that were possible.

"You. Are totes right, I-" She hiccuped in the middle of her sentence, "-am sooo glowey!"

"I know right!" Beca practically shrieked.

"Okay, I-I want to be known as Chlo- I mean, Glowey Beale now." She stated, shaking Beca's arm vigorously.

"Yeah. Okay I will call you that," The girl mumbled with a large yawn, feeling her eyelids become droopy, "But, uh, G-Glowey?"

"Mmhmm?"

"It is very late now," She yawned again and sighed, "I should- I should go to sleep. To my room."

The drunken ginger gasped and gripped the girl around the waist as she attempted to stand up, only to be hauled back down again. Too tired to try once more, she glanced over to her personal hermit.

"N-no! Glowey doesn't want you to go. She doesn't want you to go-ey." She giggled slightly at her own joke and then rested her head on Beca's chest, her eyes closing and her legs kicking out along the rest of the sofa as she got comfy, "stay. You can sleep here."

"Oh. Well, okay, then." The tipsy Mitchell only shrugged and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth radiating off of Glowey as she clung to her like a koala.

"Chloe?"

"Yeah?" She heard the girl mumble as she snuggled closer into the professor, her breath ghosting over her collarbone and almost causing a shiver to trickle down her spine.

"I meant what I said today. I am- I am happy I met you."

"Mmm… I am happy I met you too." She heard the girl whisper against her skin. And, in that moment, Beca couldn't help but let a smile glide across her face. For some reason, she felt complete. And she liked it.


End file.
